Talks and lectures, performances, hands-on art making and more are designed to engage general audiences, families, students and educators, and visitors of all abilities. explore our programs

Located on New York City’s Museum Mile, the Jewish Museum is a museum at the intersection of art and Jewish culture for people of all backgrounds. Whether you visit our home in the landmark Warburg mansion on Museum Mile, or engage with us online, there is something for everyone.

Guided Adult Groups

Plan a unique, unforgettable experience at the Jewish Museum for your group with a guided tour of one of our current or upcoming exhibitions. Works of art on view are brought to life through a lively docent-led tour, elaborating on themes addressed in the galleries.

Explore the intersection of art and design in this large-scale installation of works by artist Marc Camille Chaimowicz. Combining painting, sculpture, and photography with prototypes of everyday objects such as lamps, furniture, and wallpaper, this multimedia survey is the artist's first solo exhibition in the United States.

Exhibition Tour

Scenes from the Collection

Ongoing

The Jewish Museum’s new collection exhibition features nearly 600 works from antiquities to contemporary art — many of which are on view for the first time.

Exhibition Tour

Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress, from the Collection of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Nov 3, 2017 - Mar 18, 2018

This exhibition drawn from The Israel Museum’s world-renowned collection of Jewish costumes showcases over 100 articles of clothing from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries.

Pre-K-12 Groups

Make the Jewish Museum your classroom through thematic gallery tours that build on curricula, contextualize artworks, and incorporate activities and inquiry-based discussion. The Museum also offers customizable group visits to classes whose students have special needs.

Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Installation view of the exhibition An Autumn Lexicon, Serpentine Gallery, September 29 – November 20, 2016. Image courtesy of the artist, Cabinet, London, and Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York

Explore the intersection of art and design in this large-scale installation of works by artist Marc Camille Chaimowicz. Combining painting, sculpture, and photography with prototypes of everyday objects such as lamps, furniture, and wallpaper, this multimedia survey is the artist's first solo exhibition in the United States.

English Language Arts

Signs and Symbols

Opening January 21

Grades: Grades 3–12

Hanukkah Lamp, India, end of the 19th-20th century.

From the six-pointed star to eagles and lions, symbolic imagery can convey personal, cultural, and historic meaning. Students decode and discuss these powerful symbols as they appear in art, including paintings and ritual objects.

Exhibition Visit

Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress, from the Collection of The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Examine how an individual’s surroundings affect choices in fashion and dress. How does clothing disclose information about gender, age, background, and customs? Students consider these questions while examining Jewish costumes from Afghanistan, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Greece, Morocco, Algeria, India, Egypt, and more, primarily from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The variety of costumes on display attests to the diversity of Jewish communities around the globe.

In this studio-based workshop, students examine parchments, reed pens, and the natural resources used to produce medieval books. Students view original manuscripts in the galleries, grind natural pigments such as saffron or malachite using a mortar and pestle, and illuminate their own works of art with gold leaf.

Art: Materials and Process

Multimedia and Process

Grades: 6-12

Matthew McCaslin, Being The Light, 2000

Compare disparate works in various media through the lens of artistic process. Tours may explore ancient to contemporary art, combining stops in both the collection and current exhibitions.

Art: Materials and Process

Materials in Art

Grades: Pre-K-5

Harriete Estel Berman, Alms Container, 1999

Students view art made from various types of materials — from wire to window frames — and consider the choices artists make. In the studio, students experiment with everyday materials to create their own works of art.

History and Global Studies

The Immigrant Experience

Grades: 3-12

Maurycy Minkowski, After the Pogrom, c. 1910

Why do people move from one country to another, and what do they bring with them or leave behind? Through examination and discussion of works of art and artifacts, students consider the personal and communal experience of immigration.

History and Global Studies

Remembering the Holocaust

Grades: 6-12

Abshalom Jac Lahav, Anne Frank, 2007

Students discuss, interpret, and establish connections between the events of World War II and works of art and artifacts related to the Holocaust.

History and Global Studies

Number the Stars

Grades: 3-5

Michael David, Warsaw, 1980, Pigment and wax on Masonite. The Jewish Museum, New York

Elementary school students reading Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars focus on issues of resistance and hope through an exploration of age-appropriate works on view.

Ritual and Ceremony

Festivals of Light

Grades: Pre-K- 4

Rod Baer, Hanukkah Lamp Every December, 1995

Explore the role of light in the Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa holidays and view the Museum’s spectacular collection of Hanukkah lamps. Groups may request to focus solely on Hanukkah.

Examine ritual objects and related paintings, exploring how artists merge artistic style with function. Students learn about Jewish culture and ceremonies by considering how these objects are traditionally used.

Identity

People and Portraits

Grades: Pre-K-5

Reuven Rubin, Goldfish Vendor, 1928

Students compare and contrast works of art in different media that depict people and consider how artists use the gestures, facial expressions, and body language of their subjects to communicate ideas and emotions. Discussion will also focus on how artistic choices impact the viewer’s experience.

Identity

Art and Identity

Grades: 6-12

Raphael Soyer, Dancing Lesson, 1926.

Students consider personal, collective, and cultural identity through an examination of paintings, sculptures, or photographs. Tours may address issues of assimilation, stereotypes and discrimination, and heritage.

English Language Arts

Art as Text

Grades: 6-12

Marcel Janco, Ma'abarot in Gray, c. 1950

Students study original works of art as informational texts and reference artists’ statements, photographs, newspaper articles, and historical documents.

English Language Arts

Objects Tell Stories

Grades: K-5

Wedding Sofa from North Germany, possibly Danzig (Gdansk, Poland)

Elementary school students “read” original art and artifacts as primary sources to learn more about the historical and artistic contexts of objects at the Jewish Museum.

Writing Through Art

Grades: 3-12

Ken Aptekar, I Hate The Name Kenneth, 1996

By analyzing works of art, students gain insight into how art can inspire creative writing and how writing can be a powerful means of engaging with the visual world. Tours may focus on poetry, narrative, and language development.

Archaeology and Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Civilizations

Grades: 7-12

Bottle, Eastern Mediterranean, 2nd-3rd century C.E. Glass: free-blown

The past comes alive through a close examination of original artifacts from ancient communities. Students consider pottery, mosaics, and glassware as evidence of societal change and daily life in ancient times.

Archaeology and Ancient Civilizations

Archaeological Dig

Grades: K-6

Horse Figurine, Israel, 1000-586 B.C.E.

Students make connections between past and present, discover artifacts from ancient cultures, and learn about excavations in the Museum’s hands-on, simulated archaeological dig.

Camp Groups

Inspire your students this summer with our tours for camp groups. During these engaging themed visits, campers may dig for treasure in our simulated archaeological dig, or explore our current exhibitions and create works of art from familiar, everyday objects.

Uncover artifacts from the past in the Museum’s simulated archaeological dig.

University Groups

The Jewish Museum invites professors and students to engage with our collection and special exhibitions through close looking, guided conversations, and studio workshops. Our university programs aim to provide accessible and flexible formats for incorporating art in the Museum into teaching, learning, and making.

Conversations with Art
University classes may book hour-long visits to our temporary exhibitions or permanent collection, guided by the Museum’s educators and curators. Conversations with Art can be tailored to specific class topics.

Studio Workshops
We offer university studio workshops in tandem with our special exhibitions. Following a guided conversation about art on view in the Museum, students participate in related creative practices by making their own work with a teaching artist in our studio.

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Members enjoy valuable benefits — including free admission, discounts, and previews of new exhibitions — while helping the Museum to celebrate and share the rich artistic and cultural heritage of the Jewish people.
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